Title: Another Life 3/5
Author: Erin M. Blair
E-Mail: eblair@sonic.net
Classification: SRA--Story, Romance, Angst
Content: Mulder/Scully Romance. Alternate Universe.
Archive Notes in Part One.
Author's Notes at the end of this story.
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ANOTHER LIFE (3/5)
Written by: Erin M. Blair
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Mulder's Apartment
Wednesday, 10:00 p.m.
Mulder was watching one of his porn videotapes
when his cell phone rang. He shut off the video
to pick up the phone. In a tired voice, he
said. "Mulder."
"Fox, it's me."
Was this a dream? He heard Scully's voice, but
she called him 'Fox.' There was only time that
she'd called him that but he told her not to. At
first, he didn't like it. Now, he did. Was it
because of her wonderfully low, sexy voice? "Scully?
Where are you?"
"I'm at the hospital," Dana said, as she sat
up. "It's a mystery why I'm even there."
"I'll be right there," Mulder said, as a huge
smile appeared on his face. *She's awake!*
However, his smile turned into a frown when
he realized that Scully didn't sound like
herself. He remember her voice when she came
to him as a vision. "Mulder, I'm still at the
hospital, but my mind isn't."
Northeast Georgetown Medical Center
Wednesday, 11:00 p.m.
Visiting hours were over several hours ago,
but Mulder flashed his FBI badge to get his
way into Scully's room. He walked in, and was
surprised to see her sitting up. "Scully?"
"Fox, how come you call me 'Scully'? You always
called me 'Dana'," Dana remarked, as she noticed
his startled expression. "What's wrong?"
"Oh...nothing," Mulder stammered. "Nothing's
wrong. Are you all right, Scully?"
"I'm just wondering why I'm here in the first
place. I don't remember coming here at all."
"What do you remember?" Mulder asked, gently.
He looked at her--it was the Scully that he'd
known for the past several years, but something
wasn't right. She had the same voice as Scully,
but she acted as though they knew each other
intimately.
Dana sighed. "Fox, I told you that I was pregnant
with our second child..."
"Second child?" Mulder echoed, confused. *How
could we have another child?* Then, he remembered
what Scully said about that universe she was in
that the alternate Mulder and alternate Scully
were married, and had a daughter.
Dana spoke slowly. "Our daughter, Dana Kristine.
We call her 'Dani' to avoid confusion with me. It
was your idea to name her 'Dana'." She gave him a
warm, intimate smile as she remembered the memory
of their daughter's birth. "After she was born, you
were called to do the hostage negotiations because
of that psycho."
"What psycho?" Mulder asked, confused.
"Duane Barry. While I was in the maternity ward
of the hospital, you were trying to rescue Allyson
Krycek because he abducted her."
"Scully, who's Allyson?"
"Allyson is Alex Krycek's sister," Dana replied.
"She's our co-worker in the X-Files Division, and
we brought her in because of I was pregnant with
Dani." She paused, as she saw the confusion in his
hazel eyes. "You don't remember, do you?"
"I'm sorry, Scully. I don't," Mulder said, as he
saw the sadness in her clear, blue eyes. He knew
that she was upset that he couldn't remember, but
he didn't know what to say. "I have a theory why
you're feeling this way."
"What is it?" Dana asked, as she saw the concern
on Mulder's face. "What's your theory?"
"You're stuck in an alternate universe."
Dana nodded. "Something must have happened to
trigger it...but why am I in a hospital bed?"
"Scully was in a car accident which put her in
a coma..."
"Why?"
"She saw me kiss Diana..."
"Diana Fowley? Before my husband met me, his
partner was Diana Fowley. Their relationship
was strictly platonic."
"Diana was my ex-wife," Mulder confessed. "Scully
knows that I was married before, but she didn't
know who." He paused, with a sigh. "I told her that
it ruined me so much that I couldn't be with anyone."
Dana frowned, and then she sighed. "Look, I'm sorry
that you dislike the idea of marriage." She paused,
as she realized that this wasn't the man that she had
married and fallen in love with. "Where I'm from, I'm
married to him and had his child. Diana Fowley may be
your wife---"
"Ex-wife," Mulder interrupted.
"Whatever," Dana said. She sighed. "I'd been married to
Fox since 1992. We tell each other everything, and we
trust each other. You're not the man that I'd fallen
in love with..." She saw a hint of sadness in Mulder's
hazel eyes, and she knew that something was amiss. "What's
wrong?"
"How do I get my Scully back?"
Dana's eyes flashed with anger, and she realized that this
man before her had no idea how to love. Tears of sympathy
welled in her eyes as she thought about how much this Mulder
before her had put her through so much pain. No wonder
Scully's with her husband. "Why would she come back? You'd
given her plenty of reasons to leave." She paused, as she
considered her next sentence. "You don't deserve her."
"Oh yes, I do. I should tell you something that you
don't know about us..."
"I think that I know plenty," Dana insisted. "You love
Fowley, not your 'Scully'."
"That's a lie!" Mulder shrieked. He paused, as he calmed
himself down. He felt the anger burning within him, and
he looked at Scully. "You don't have any clue what it's
like between Scully and me."
"Why don't you just fill me in?"
Mulder felt frustrated. He didn't understand why Scully
would let him have it, and sighed. For some reason, he
felt that he had to prove to her that he was deserving
of Scully's love. "All right, for starters, she makes me
feel like a whole person. She's my one in five billion
that I trust. I followed her to the ends of the earth
to save her from the alien virus. There, I told her
that I love her. She gave me a huge smile, and I knew
she loves me..." He paused, as he thought
of his feelings for Diana. "Would I have done this for
Fowley? I don't think so..."
"I see."
"Is that all you can say?" Mulder asked, as he
looked into her blue eyes. "That you see..."
"Mulder? Can I call you that?"
"Yes."
"I don't doubt your love for her, but I do have
questions."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, I have a few questions. If you love her
so much, how come you kissed Fowley? How come
you told her that you don't trust her?" Dana
inquired. She frowned. "You have went through
so much with Scully that you decided that you
want to be with Fowley. It doesn't make sense,
Mulder. You said that you want Scully back,
but I doubt that you honestly love her."
"I want her back, Dana." Mulder walked towards
the window to see the darkened sky. "It looks
like it's going to rain..."
"Stop changing the subject, Mulder. Do you
love Scully or not?"
Mulder saw the rain came flowing down from the
clouds, and he knew that the rain mirrored
his own tears. He murmured quietly, and his
voice was so soft that Dana couldn't hear him.
All he hoped was that Scully, wherever she
was, could hear him. "I do love you, Scully."
Mulder Residence
Thursday, 8:00 a.m.
Alternate Universe
"Dana?" Mulder inquired, as he was trying to
wake her up by gently patted her shoulders.
"Wake up."
"What is it?" Scully asked, sleepily. Her
blue eyes focused on him, and she noticed
that he was already dressed in a navy blue
power suit. "You're already dressed."
"I know," Mulder said. He gave her a warm
smile. "I couldn't wait to go to work..."
Scully looked confused. "Fox, where do we
work? You hadn't told me that."
Mulder frowned. "I thought that I did. We
work at the FBI in the X-Files Division." He
shrugged. "I'm sorry that I hadn't told you..."
"It's all right. Don't worry about it,"
Scully said, reassuringly. She gave him an
intimate smile. "I'll get dressed." She
paused, as she looked at him searching for
one of Dana's power suits. "What are you
doing?"
"I'm helping you to get ready quicker,"
Mulder said, as he took off her white
power suit from the hanger. "The last time
that you had worn this outfit, you were
only a few months pregnant with Dani. Since
you're pregnant again, I thought that you
should wear it."
Scully's smile deepened. "Do you always do
that for Dana?"
"Not always."
"Why not?"
"Dana has a mind of her own when it comes
to pick out her outfits," Mulder said, as
he put the outfit on the bed. He watched
her walking towards him to examine her
wardrobe. "I thought that you had already
done that."
Scully looked over the suits in the closet,
and noticed that some of her outfits were
similar to what she had worn in her
early days of her partnership with Mulder.
Mulder saw her wrinkle up her nose as she
pulled out a light blue suit. "What's
wrong?"
"How can she stand wearing this outfit?"
Scully asked, as she frowned. As she
examined the light blue power suit, she
thought how much her sense in clothes
had changed. The outfit symbolized a
particular outfit from her early days
on the X-Files because it wasn't flattering
to the curves of her body. Now, she wears
clothes which showed off her body more.
"That's what she wore on our first date,"
Mulder said. He paused, as he remembered
touching the outline of her face for the
first time before he kissed her. "She
kept this for sentimental reasons, I guess.
Her taste in clothes got better..."
"I hope so," Scully murmured, as she watched
Mulder caressing her back while she changed
into her outfit. "That feels good." As she
changed into her clothes, she wondered how
*her* Mulder was.
"I'm glad," Mulder replied. He gave her a
small intimate smile, and then kissed her
hair. He paused, as he thought about Dana.
"I used to do that with Dana especially
if we're on a long case."
Scully turned around to face Mulder. "I know
that I'm not really your Dana. I'm sure that
she wants to return to you. I know she does."
She paused, with reassurance in her clear blue
eyes. "She loves you, Fox."
"I know," Mulder whispered. "I know she does."
He saw her grimace. "Are you in pain?"
"I'm fine," Scully said, quietly. "My back's
sore."
"Must be the pregnancy," Mulder remarked. He
watched her sit down on the bed, and he massaged
her back. "Does this feel better?"
"Much," Scully said, as she already felt better
from the massaging. "You're good, you know?"
"I had practice when Dana was pregnant the
last time around," Mulder commented, as he
continued rubbing her.
"So that's why?" Scully inquired.
"Yes."
"I wish that my Mulder knew how to do that."
"I bet that you'd never asked him," Mulder said,
with a sigh.
"We're not...that intimate," Scully said. She
frowned, thinking of the times when he touched
her lower back when he was guiding her into a
room.
"Are you sure?" Mulder prodded.
"I'm positive," Scully insisted. "Look, can we
please change the subject?"
"I guess. What do you want to talk about?"
"Dana. What she's like?"
Mulder looked at her, and he didn't know
how to explain about his wife. He shrugged.
"She's a lot like you, Dana, except that
she never had all that suffering." He noticed
her eyes became downcast, and whispered. "I'm
sorry."
Scully saw that he was apologizing to her. "You
don't have to be sorry because I suffered through
so many traumas. I'm happy that my other self
never had to go through what I did."
"We had some hardships too, but mostly
with me."
"Like what?"
Mulder frowned. "I thought that my sister had
returned."
"I think that I know about that."
"Really?" Mulder looked surprised. "I haven't
told that many people. Only Dana and my parents
knew about this as well as Skinner."
"Your other self had that happened to him too."
"Did that Bounty Hunter took you hostage like
he did with Dana?"
Scully nodded. "Mulder saved me."
"That's good. I saved Dana. I had a funny feeling
that Samantha wasn't really her to begin with." He
shrugged. "That's what happens when you're with a
woman who makes you think. It grounds you in reality."
"I know the feeling," Scully said, as she gave him
a warm smile. "You know something? I have a question
for you. Is Samantha still missing?"
Mulder nodded. "She is." He paused, as he reached
out for Scully's warm hand. He grasped her hand and
he felt the warmth of her touch. "I still believe
that she'll be back, but I had moved on with my life.
I have two women in my life now. Dana and Dani. I
still search for Samantha, but my piorities are with
the women who has been in life constantly." He paused,
as he looked into her clear blue eyes. "I miss Dana."
End of Part 3 of 5
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- Erin Blair
- eblair@sonic.net
- "And if I quit now, they win."
- from the X-Files: Fight the Future Movie